MIRACLE MILE, Calif. -- One of the most eagerly anticipated additions to Los Angeles' cultural landscape is the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures along the Miracle Mile. It promises state-of-the-art facilities but it's anchored in one of L.A.’s most iconic historic landmarks, the May Co. Building .

Completed in 1939, the same year The Wizard of Oz was released, the May Co. department store building, with its iconic gold-tiled, cylindrical corner, is now the gateway to the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. But bringing one of the few remaining examples of L.A.’s “streamline moderne” architecture into the 21st century required a lot of ingenuity and a mind for detective work, which is where John Fidler comes in. 

“It is detective work,” explained Fidler from the construction site. “It’s forensic engineering detective work in one form or another. You learn a bit about how the building was constructed. What the attitudes of the people involved were, some of their fallibilities and the sensibilities of the materials.”

Originally from the U.K., Fidler has worked on everything from medieval cathedrals to modern day architectural masterpieces.

One of the challenges in this particular project was replacing damaged original materials that might not be easy to come by now. Those little gold tiles on the corner? There's over 300,000 of them.

“Tessera, they’re called,” Fidler said. “The small tiles are about an inch square or so. They're not orthogonal. They tend to have ragged edges because they're handmade.”

Damaged handmade tiles were replaced with modern machined ones, carefully matched to size and color.

Modern sealants didn't exist in the 1930’s, so the builders used an ancient rope technique to waterproof the window fixtures. 

“This is sisal rope,” explained Fidler, holding a piece of the original, decaying rope. “This material, when it gets wet, swells and keeps the water out. This is the same technology that was used on 'Man of War' in the American War of Independence. Before the work started, we were able to survey every stone and map out the deterioration and damage."

In order to repair the damage to the Texas limestone panels that cover most of the structure, Fidler employed an old English technique. 

“It's called a helifix anchor,” Fidler said. “A spiral friction anchor. And then holding each panel in place we were then able to cut away the spoiled and broken and cracked stone and then get the corroding metal.”

The historic building is only part of the museum. Architect Renzo Piano was in charge of the new structures, which will house state-of-the-art screening facilities. Piano wanted to preserve the east/west promenade corridor to keep a continuity with the neighboring county museums, so, the old and new buildings are connected by overhead gangways. 

“These are going to be very special theaters, which can display any format of historic movie,” said Fidler.

Slated to open later in 2019, the museum has been a long time coming and it's sure to attract huge crowds of film lovers from all over the world. Fidler hopes some of them might actually be looking at the architecture, too.